With more than 50 million records sold over his 50-year career, Enrico Macias is one of the best-known Frenchmen in the world. Repatriated during the Algerian War of Independence, it was on the boat, watching his beloved homeland disappear forever, that he composed the song, “J’ai quitté mon pays”. Before long he became the voice of a group of men and women repatriated in extremis, forced to leave everything behind, and soon referred to as “Pieds-Noirs”. It was with him that they found ways to integrate, although not without a few tears, taking courage from hearing him sing, “Toi Paris, tu m’as pris dans tes bras”.
Combining festivity and melancholy (“Ah quelles sont jolies les filles de mon pays “), peace and the values of universality, (“Enfants de tous pays”), Enrico Macias soon became a household name throughout the whole of France (“Les Millionnaires du Dimanche”, “Les Gens du Nord”).
Over the years, his successes have become too numerous to mention and today Enrico Macias is what he always dreamed of being: a singer of celebratory songs about family, love and peace. He remains above all a symbol of hope for all those forced to leave their counties to escape war or poverty. It’s to them that Enrico’s words and music speak most clearly.